“Unlike during the Vietnam War, today’s military is an professional, all-volunteer force.”
“There have been only five cases of intentional fratricide by U.S. service members in Iraq. But these incidents, however rare, draw public attention to an important issue: the enormous stress on our armed forces. Much more must be done to address troops’ psychological injuries before they reach a crisis point.”
read more about this here
Old, new vets clash over IAVA chief comment
He was addressing the issue of Sgt. Russell killing five soldiers at a Crisis Center, Camp Liberty in Iraq. What he meant to say or why he said it only he really knows for sure, but it goes a long way in addressing how twisted some people are when they are even thinking about Vietnam veterans.
I had a lot to say last week over this and now that I've calmed down a bit, this story out of Longview Texas has me returning to Rieckhoff's comments again.
The problem is, people like Rieckhoff never really saw what Vietnam veterans did but enjoy what they managed to provide for veterans like him (one tour in Iraq as a National Guardsman) and all other veterans. How a "citizen soldier" can turn around and attempt to claim the newer veterans are any better, more "professional" or more worthy of what they are getting than other veterans, especially the Vietnam veterans, shows how little people like him are aware of what they did.
This article points out they were not welcomed home and this is true. Over the last 20 years or so, there have been parades, monuments built and attempts to make up for how badly they were treated but the fact remains what they did, they did despite all of it. Rieckhoff has no clue that while every other generation of veterans served this nation and suffered the wound of PTSD under different titles since the beginning of time itself, it took the Vietnam veterans to fight for it to be recognized and treated as a combat related wound and thus, service connected. They pushed for the research to be done to understand it and treat it. In the process, this not only helped older veterans and the ones serving now, it helped the citizens of this nation when they too are wounded by traumatic events.
They are men like Senator Jim Webb,
Jim Webb (D-VA)
U.S. Marine Corps 1964-1972
Ass't Sec. of Defense 1984-1987
Secretary of the Navy 1987-1988
The same Jim Webb responsible for the new GI Bill to help the newer veterans get the education they need to for their futures.
Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI)
U.S. Army 1943-47 also a veteran and head of the Veterans Affairs Committee and in charge of it when all the funding began to be increased in 2007. Again, for the sake of the newer veterans needing help to heal from their service as well as older veterans still waiting.
Men like one of my favorite heroes, Dave Vorce, the founder of the International Fellowship of Chaplains. This Vietnam veteran helped to train and support me so that I can help all veterans better than I had been doing without being a Chaplain.
President & CEO
Senior Chaplain
Major General
Dr. David C. Vorce, Ed D. MCC
International Fellowship of Chaplains, Inc.
Senior Chaplain David C. Vorce is a 35-year veteran in ministry. He has served as an Evangelist, Pastor and a Chaplain. He currently holds a national post as Chaplaincy Coordinator in his denominations’ national office while maintaining the position of Senior Pastor and President and CEO of the IFOC. He is the Chief Trainer as well.
Chaplain Vorce is a proud father of six (6) children, a former U.S. Marine, a psychiatric nurse, and a retired Lieutenant with the Saginaw County Sheriffs Department where he served in the Special Operations Division. He also has 20 years as a Police Chaplain and nearly 36 years as a martial arts instructor.
Doctor Vorce has a Doctor of Education Degree, a Masters Degree in Counseling, a Bachelors Degree in Biblical Studies, and is FBI certified in the areas of Critical Incident Stress (CIS), Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CIDS), Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM), Grief and Loss and Chaplaincy.
Chaplain Vorce is a member of various chaplaincy, educational and training organizations, including the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers (ASLET), the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF), the International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analyst (IALEIA) and the Michigan Association of Suicidology.
Doctor David Vorce is highly dedicated and sought after conference speaker and minister of the Gospel. He is recognized as an expert in the areas of Chaplaincy and Police Chaplaincy.
Men like Dana Morgan, of Point Man Ministries and this is what he had to say,
It isn't about who got a parade! When I came home from Vietnam, my cousin, a WWII Vet invited me to a VFW meeting and I was all but ignored because I was not in a "real" war and so how could I have any kind of problem? All these guys stuck to each other like glue and pretty much ignored the "new" Vets. And you all remember how it felt. I see the same "new guys" 35 years later with the same baloney coming out of their mouths. How in the world can you say you support the troops and then ignore them when they get home?
Seems to me that no matter how many are killed, the survivors have an obligation to each other and to our posterity to insure the "new guys" don't go through the same stuff our dads, grandfathers and ourselves had to endure...
So to all you "NEW GUYS", Welcome Home. Thank you for a job well done. Your sacrifice is deeply appreciated here. We support you regardless of when or where you served; we understand what you've been through and what you're dealing with now. Continue through the site and get connected!
Point Man Ministries Dana Morgan (President of PMIM)
This is from their web site
Since 1984, when Seattle Police Officer and Vietnam Veteran Bill Landreth noticed he was arresting the same people each night, he discovered most were Vietnam vets like himself that just never seemed to have quite made it home. He began to meet with them in coffee shops and on a regular basis for fellowship and prayer. Soon, Point Man Ministries was conceived and became a staple of the Seattle area. Bills untimely death soon after put the future of Point Man in jeopardy.
However, Chuck Dean, publisher of a Veterans self help newspaper, Reveille, had a vision for the ministry and developed it into a system of small groups across the USA for the purpose of mutual support and fellowship. These groups are known as Outposts. Worldwide there are hundreds of Outposts and Homefront groups serving the families of veterans.
PMIM is run by veterans from all conflicts, nationalities and backgrounds. Although, the primary focus of Point Man has always been to offer spiritual healing from PTSD, Point Man today is involved in group meetings, publishing, hospital visits, conferences, supplying speakers for churches and veteran groups, welcome home projects and community support. Just about any where there are Vets there is a Point Man presence. All services offered by Point Man are free of charge.
They started groups like the Vietnam Veterans of America, Rolling Thunder, Nam Knights along with a lot of other service groups. What most people do not know is that they are also behind all the web sites that have been helping veterans since the Internet began.
If you want to know what a hero looks like, look at a Vietnam veteran and understand they did all they did because they cared more about other veterans than they did about the miserable way they were treated.
Welcome home, Vietnam vets
Community reception hopes to erase bad memories of prior homecoming
Click-2-Listen
By WES FERGUSON
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Veterans who were greeted with jeers and spit when they returned from the Vietnam War four decades ago found Old Glory waving and supporters cheering Saturday in Longview.
Modeled after present-day homecomings for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, the "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans" event was a belated thank-you for men's and women's service during the unpopular conflict in Southeast Asia.
"I like it," said John Hawley, a 62-year-old Vietnam vet from Gladewater. "Late, but I like it."
Hawley was one of about 40 veterans who attended the reception Saturday at the Elks Lodge in Longview. He said his return to the States in 1968 remains a terrible memory.
"It made me feel like a criminal," he said. "We were just like any soldiers doing what we were told. We were asked to go there, and like good soldiers we stood up and went.
"It's been over 40 years, and I still get emotional about it," he said.
Hawley spent a year in Vietnam, in the Army artillery.
"I saw friends die, friends crippled for life, and then you come home and people talk to you like you're a criminal out of prison or something. It was just something we never should have had to live through."
More than 100 people attended Saturday's event, which was organized by three area groups — the East Texas Patriot Guard, Welcome Home Soldiers and the East Texas Military Families and Friends Support Network.
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Welcome home, Vietnam vets
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